Portable device comprising a communication station configuration and a data carrier configuration

ABSTRACT

A portable device ( 1 ) comprises a communication station configuration ( 10 ) for contactless communication with at least one external data carrier ( 13 ) and a data carrier configuration ( 11 ) for contactless communication with at least one external communication station ( 14 ), wherein a detection circuit ( 32 ) is provided which is designed to detect the presence of an external data carrier ( 13 ) and the presence of an external communication station ( 14 ) in a communication zone of the internal communication station configuration ( 10 ) and the internal data carrier configuration ( 11 ) designed for contactless communication, and wherein an activation circuit ( 33 ) cooperating with the detection circuit ( 32 ) is provided, by means of which activation circuit ( 33 ) one of the two configurations ( 10, 11 ) can be activated as a function of the detection result (INFO 1 , INFO 2 , INFO 3 ) supplied in each case by the detection circuit ( 32 ).

The invention relates to a portable device comprising a communicationstation configuration which is provided and designed for contactlesscommunication with at least one data carrier external to the portabledevice and in contactless communication connection therewith.

A portable device as described above in the first paragraph is known,for example, from patent document DE 199 17 223 A1. The known portabledevice is a portable read device by means of which files may be easilylocated. The known read device comprises a communication stationconfiguration by means of which transponders, i.e. data carriers, fittedto a file to be retrieved or associated with such a file may be located,and characteristic data stored in each transponder may then be read outduring performance of a communication process, wherein a sought file maybe easily found by means of the stored characteristic data in thatdisplay information corresponding to these characteristic data isdisplayed on a display device of the read device. Although it ispossible to effect simple and reliable locating of files with the knownportable device, the known portable device offers only thisfunctionality and therefore allows only such location.

It is an object of the invention to improve a portable device withregard to its possible functions, i.e. to provide at least twofunctionalities and to ensure simple, reliable selection of in each caseone functionality.

To achieve the above-mentioned object, features according to theinvention are provided for a portable device according to the invention,such that a portable device according to the invention may becharacterized in the following way, namely:

A portable device comprising a communication station configuration whichis provided and designed for contactless communication with at least onedata carrier external to the portable device and in contactlesscommunication connection therewith, and communication with at least onecommunication station external to the portable device and in contactlessread connection therewith, and comprising detection means which areprovided and designed to detect at least one external data carrierlocated in a communication zone suitable for a contactless communicationconnection and to detect at least one external communication stationlocated in a communication zone suitable for a contactless communicationconnection, and comprising activation means cooperating with thedetection means, which activation means cooperate with the communicationstation configuration and with the data carrier configuration and bywhich means one of the two configurations can be activated as a functionof the detection result supplied in each case by the detection means.

By providing the features according to the invention, a portable devicemay be provided of relatively low complexity which offers both thefunctionality of a communication station and the functionality of a datacarrier and with which the functionality desired in each case may beselected simply and automatically and consequently very reliably and mayconsequently be brought into operation.

In a portable device according to the invention, detection of anexternal data carrier and detection of an external communication stationmay be effected in that the detection means of the portable deviceaccording to the invention are so designed that they can detect thepresence of a resonant transmission circuit of an external data carrieror the presence of a resonant transmission circuit of an externalcommunication station in a communication zone suitable for contactlesscommunication connection. However, it has proven highly advantageous forthe features as claimed in claim 2 to be additionally provided in thecase of a portable device according to the invention. In this way, adetection is ensured which is very simple with regard to circuitry andmoreover very reliable and unambiguous.

In the case of a portable device according to the invention, it hasproven highly advantageous for the features as claimed in claim 3 to beadditionally provided. This makes it easily possible for data contentstored in a data carrier external to the portable device according tothe invention to be displayed by means of the display configurationafter being read out by means of the communication stationconfiguration, which is in many cases very useful and convenient for auser of the portable device and such an external data carrier.

In the case of a portable device according to the invention, it hasproven highly advantageous for the portable device to take the form of acell phone or a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). This advantageouslyensures that the functionalities of a cell phone or a Personal DigitalAssistant are extended by advantageous additional functionalities. Sucha cell phone or such a Personal Digital Assistant may be used to displaythe data content of known card-form data carriers, such as credit cards,health service cards, and cards for other purposes, and also as anelectronic ticket and for access control purposes and as an automobileimmobilizer.

In the case of a portable device according to the invention, it hasproven highly advantageous, however, for the portable device to take theform of a card-form data carrier. This advantageously ensures that acard-form data carrier constructed according to the invention, which isprovided with a display configuration, may additionally also be used toenable the data content of a further data carrier brought into thevicinity of the data carrier according to the invention to be read outby means of the communication station configuration of the data carrieraccording to the invention, and subsequently displayed by means of thedisplay configuration of the data carrier according to the invention.This provides the considerable advantage that a user with a plurality ofpersonal cards requires only a single personal card designed accordingto the invention with a display configuration and the data contents ofall the other cards may be displayed by means of the data carrieraccording to the invention. It should be mentioned that card-form datacarriers with display means are known per se, for example from patentdocument DE 296 02 834 U 1.

The above mentioned aspects of the invention and further aspects thereofemerge from the examples of embodiment described below and are explainedwith reference to these examples of embodiment.

The invention will be further described with reference to examples ofembodiments shown in the drawings to which, however, the invention isnot restricted.

FIG. 1 is a highly schematic representation, in the form of a blockdiagram, of a portion, essential in the present context, of a portabledevice according to a first example of embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 shows, analogously to FIG. 1, a portable device according to asecond example of embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 1 shows a portable device 1 which in the present case takes theform of a cell phone 1. The cell phone 1 comprises an antenna 2 by meansof which telephone signals can be received and sent. Moreover, the cellphone 1 comprises a telephone signal processing circuit 3 which isconnected to the antenna 2 and by means of which telephone signals whichhave been received or are to be sent may be processed. A loudspeaker 4for reproducing received telephone signals is connected to the telephonesignal processing circuit 3. In addition, a microphone 5 is connected tothe telephone signal processing circuit 3, by means of which microphone5 telephone signals to be processed in the telephone signal processingcircuit 3 and subsequently to be sent can be generated.

The cell phone 1 further comprises a display configuration 6. Thedisplay configuration 6 consists substantially of display means 7 and adriver circuit 8, by means of which data signals to be displayed may beprocessed and subsequently fed to the display means 7 for displaypurposes. In the present case, the display means 7 are a so-called LCDdisplay. It goes without saying that any other suitable display devicemay be provided as the display configuration 6.

The display configuration 6 is connected to the telephone signalprocessing circuit 3 via a schematically illustrated connection 9. Thismakes it possible for signals received by the telephone signalprocessing circuit 3 to be fed after processing thereof in the telephonesignal processing circuit 3 to the driver circuit 8, whereupon the datarepresented by these signals may be displayed by the display means 7.

The cell phone 1 particularly advantageously comprises both acommunication station configuration 10 and a data carrier configuration11, which are both provided on a circuit board 12. The communicationstation configuration 10 is provided and designed for contactlesscommunication with at least one data carrier 13 external to the cellphone 1 and in contactless communication connection therewith, and inthis case also for contactless communication with at least onecommunication station 14 external to the cell phone 1 and in contactlessread connection therewith. The external data carrier 13 comprises anexternal data carrier circuit 15 in the form of an integrated circuit,which data carrier circuit 15 cooperates with transmission means 16,which transmission means 16 comprise a transmission coil 17. The datacarrier configuration 11 is provided and designed for contactlesscommunication with at least one communication station 14 external to thecell phone 1 and in contactless read connection therewith. The externalcommunication station 14 comprises an external communication stationcircuit 18 and transmission means 19 cooperating with the externalcommunication circuit 18, which transmission means 19 likewise comprisea transmission coil 20.

The internal communication station configuration 10 contained in thecell phone 1 comprises first transmit/receive means 21, which comprise atransmission coil 22. In the present case, the first transmit/receivemeans 21 additionally also comprise a search signal generation stage 23by means of which a search signal SEARCH can be generated. Furthermore,the internal communication station configuration 10 comprises aninternal communication station circuit 24 which is provided and designedto process signals received or to be sent by means of the firsttransmit/receive means 21. The internal communication station circuit 24here takes the form of an integrated circuit and comprises, in additionto a plurality of other components, a first memory 25. In the firstmemory 25 there are stored, inter alia, data transmitted to thecommunication station configuration 10 by external data carriers 13 orby external communication stations 14. The internal communicationstation circuit 24 is connected to the driver circuit 8 of the displayconfiguration 6 via a schematically illustrated connection 26. Thisallows data or data contents contained in the internal communicationstation circuit 24 and in particular in the first memory 25 to besupplied to the driver circuit 8 of the display configuration 6 andsubsequently to be displayed by the display means 7.

The internal data carrier configuration 11 comprises secondtransmit/receive means 27 which likewise comprise a transmission coil28. To the second transmit/receive means 27 there is connected aninternal data carrier circuit 29 which is provided and designed toprocess signals received or to be sent by the second transmit/receivemeans 27. The internal data carrier circuit 29 comprises, in addition toa plurality of assemblies, a second memory 30, which preferably takesthe form of a non-volatile memory or of a fixed programmed memory and inwhich, inter alia, data or data contents may be stored which have beenreceived from an external communication station 14. The internal datacarrier circuit 29 is connected to the driver circuit 8 of the displayconfiguration 6 via a schematically illustrated connection 31, wherebyit is possible for data or data contents contained in the internal datacarrier circuit 29 and in particular in the second memory 30 thereof tobe forwarded to the driver circuit 8 and subsequently displayed by thedisplay means 7. In an alternative embodiment, the connection 31 mayalso be dispensed with if no display functionality is required ordesired for the data carrier configuration 11.

The following should also be noted with regard to the contactlesscommunications or communication modes which are possible for externaldata carriers 13 and external communication stations 14 in the case ofthe cell phone 1. An external communication station 14 may communicatewith the internal communication station configuration 10 using a firstprotocol PROT1, wherein according to the first protocol PROT1 a firststart signal START1 is provided at the start thereof and, when the firstprotocol PROT1 is used, data or data signals are transmitted by means ofat least a first coding mode and by means of a first modulation mode. Anexternal communication station 14 may communicate with the internal datacarrier configuration 11 using a second protocol PROT2, whereinaccording to the second protocol PROT2 a second start signal START2 isprovided at the start thereof and, when the second protocol is used,data or data signals for transmission are modulated in accordance withat least a second coding mode and in accordance with a second modulationmode. In the event of communication between an external data carrier 13and the internal communication station configuration 10, communicationtakes place using a third protocol PROT3, wherein, when the thirdprotocol is used, data or data signals for transmission are transmittedin accordance with at least a third coding mode and in accordance with athird modulation mode.

The cell phone 1 advantageously comprises detection means 32, providedand designed to detect at least one external data carrier 13 located ina communication zone suitable for a contactless communication connectionand to detect at least one external communication station 14 located ina communication zone suitable for a contactless communicationconnection. The design of the detection means 32 is examined in moredetail below.

The cell phone 1 advantageously further comprises activation means 33cooperating with the detection means 32, which activation means 33cooperate both with the internal communication station configuration 10and with the internal data carrier configuration 11, and by which means33 one of the two configurations 10 and 11 can be activated as afunction of the detection result supplied in each case by the detectionmeans 32, such that, depending on the detection result, either theinternal communication station configuration 10 or the internal datacarrier configuration 11 is activated and consequently set in operationfor full communication with at least one external data carrier 13 orwith at least one external communication station 14.

The detection means 32 and the activation means 33 are provided,together with the internal communication station configuration 10 andthe internal data carrier configuration 11, on the circuit board 12 ofthe cell phone 1.

The detection means 32 comprise control means 34 which can act in acontrolling manner via respective control connections 35 and 36 on thefirst transmit/receive means 21 and the second transmit/receive means27, thereby allowing the first transmit/receive means 21 and the secondtransmit/receive means 27 to be activated without the internalcommunication station configuration 10 and the internal data carrierconfiguration 11 being or having to be activated already.

The detection means 32 additionally comprise a first detection stage 35which is connected to the first transmit/receive means 21 and by meansof which the occurrence of a response signal RESPONSE transmitted to theinternal communication station configuration 10 in response to a searchsignal SEARCH by at least one external data carrier 13 can be detected.If such a response signal RESPONSE is detected by the first detectionstage 35, the first detection stage 35 outputs a first item of controlinformation INFO1.

The detection means 32 additionally comprise a second detection stage 36and a third detection stage 37, which are both connected to the secondtransmit/receive means 27. The second detection stage 36 is provided anddesigned to detect a first start signal START1 arising at the start ofthe first protocol PROT1 from an external communication station 14 uponuse of the first protocol PROT1. The third detection stage 37 isprovided and designed to detect a second start signal START2 arising atthe start of the second protocol PROT2 in the event of communicationwith an external communication station 14 when the second protocol PROT2is used. If the second detection stage 36 detects a first start signalSTART1, the second detection stage 36 outputs a second item of controlinformation INFO2. If the third detection stage 37 detects a secondstart signal START2, the third detection stage 37 outputs a third itemof control information INFO3.

To summarize, it should thus be noted with regard to the detection means32 that the detection means 32 detect simply by means of signals,whether at least one external data carrier 13 or at least one externalcommunication station 14 is located in a communication zone suitable fora contactless communication connection namely either by means of aresponse signal RESPONSE or by means of a first start signal START1 orby means of a second start signal START2, which are all transmitted in acontactless manner to the cell phone 1 and in particular to the firsttransmit/receive means 21 or to the second transmit/receive means 27 andsubsequently fed to the detection stages 35, 36, or 37 connected to thefirst transmit/receive means 21 or the second transmit/receive means 27.The control information INFO1, INFO2, and INFO3 generatable or generatedby means of the three detection stages 35, 36, and 37 of the detectionmeans 32 can be supplied to the activation means 33 and are processedlogically in the activation means 33 such that the activation means 33ensure activation of the internal communication station configuration 10via a control connection 38 if the first item of control informationINFO1 and the second item of control information INFO2 occur, and suchthat the activation means 33 ensure activation of the internal datacarrier configuration 11 via a control connection 39 in the event of theoccurrence of the third item of control information INFO3.

The mode of operation of the cell phone 1 with regard to the internalcommunication configuration 10 and the internal data carrierconfiguration 11 is explained briefly below.

In the cell phone 1, the control means 34 ensure a “polling” operationof the first transmit/receive means 21 and the second transmit/receivemeans 27. This means that the two transmit/receive means 21 and 27 areactivated by the control means 34 in succession in each case for a givenperiod of time, for example for 100 msec in each case.

If the first transmit/receive means 21 are activated, this results inthe search signal generating stage 23 transmitting a search signalSEARCH. If at least one external data carrier 13 is located in acommunication zone suitable for a contactless communication connection,this results in said at least one external data carrier 13 receiving thesearch signal SEARCH and consequently generating a response signalRESPONSE. The response signal RESPONSE is received by the stillactivated first transmit/receive means 21 and subsequently fed to thefirst detection stage 35 of the detection means 32. The response signalRESPONSE is detected by the first detection stage 35, which results inthe generation of the first item of control information INFO1 andoutputting thereof to the activation means 33. This in turn has theconsequence that the activation means 33 activate, via the controlconnection 38, the entire internal communication station configuration10, such that problem-free, full communication is subsequently enabledbetween the internal communication station configuration 10 and all theexternal data carriers 13 located in a communication zone suitable for acontactless communication connection.

If the control means 34 ensure activation of the second transmit/receivemeans 27, this has the consequence that signals output either accordingto the first protocol PROT1 or according to the second protocol PROT2are received by the second transmit/receive means 27 from at least oneexternal communication station 14 located in a communication zonesuitable for a contactless communication connection—which communicationstation 14 outputs of its own volition and without being asked eithersignals according to the first protocol PROT1 or signals according tothe second protocol PROT2—and consequently either the first start signalSTART1 or the second start signal START2 is received. The signalsreceived in each case are forwarded by the second transmit/receive means27 to the two detection stages 36 and 37 for the two start signalsSTART1 and START2. Depending on which start signal START1 or START2 hasbeen received, the received start signal is detected by the relevantdetection stage 36 or 37. If a first start signal START1 has beenreceived, this is detected by the second detection stage 36, whichresults in the second detection stage 36 outputting the second item ofcontrol information INFO2, which in turn results in the second item ofcontrol information INFO2 being processed by the activation means 33 andresults in the activation means 33 activating the internal communicationstation configuration 10 via the control connection 38, such thatcommunication operation is subsequently enabled between at least oneexternal communication station 14 and the internal communication stationconfiguration 10 using the first protocol PROT1. If, on the other hand,a second start signal START2 has been received, this start signal START2is detected by the third detection stage 37, which results in the thirddetection stage 37 generating the third item of control informationINFO3 and outputting it to the activation means 33. The third item ofcontrol information INFO3 is processed by the activation means 33, whichresults in the activation means 33 ensuring activation of the internaldata carrier configuration 11 via the control connection 39, such thatcommunication is subsequently enabled according to the second protocolPROT2 between at least one external communication station 14 and theinternal data carrier configuration 11.

By enabling communication between an external communication station 14and the internal data carrier configuration 11, it is possible, forexample, to read out authorization data from the second memory 30 foruse of a means of public transport and to transmit it to the externalcommunication station 14, such that in this case the cell phone fulfillsthe function of an electronic ticket. It goes without saying that aplurality of other functionalities is similarly possible due tocommunication between an external communication station 14 and theinternal data carrier configuration 11, for example access authorizationto a medical database may be provided for the owner of the cell phone 1by means of the internal data carrier configuration 11.

By enabling communication between an external data carrier 13 and theinternal communication station configuration 10, it is possible, forexample, to read out data content stored in an external data carrier 13by means of the internal communication station configuration 10 and tostore it intermediately in the first memory 25 and subsequently todisplay it on the display means 7 of the display configuration 6. Thisprovides the substantial advantage to a user of the cell phone 1, who isalso a user of a plurality of external data carriers 13, for examplecredit cards, insurance cards, and similar data carriers, of being ableto display and consequently examine the respective current data contentsof his/her external data carriers 13 simply through the display means 7of the cell phone 1.

FIG. 2 shows a further portable device 40. The portable device 40 is acredit card 40. The credit card 40 comprises for the most part circuitrywhich is virtually identical to that of the portable device 1 describedabove with reference to FIG. 1, i.e. the cell phone 1. However, thedifference with the cell phone 1 is that the credit card 40 does nothave an antenna 2 or a telephone signal processing circuit 3 or aloudspeaker 4 or a microphone 5, but rather the credit card 40 comprisesa contact field 41 according to the known international standard, whichis connected to a data signal processing circuit 43 via connection lines42. The data processing circuit 43 is connected to the driver circuit 8of the display configuration 6 via a schematically illustratedconnection 44. With the credit card 40, at least substantially the sameadvantages may be achieved as have already been described above withreference to the cell phone 1.

If an external communication station 14 is intended to communicate onlywith the internal data carrier configuration 11 and not also with theinternal communication station configuration 10, and consequently no useof the first protocol PROT1 is provided and consequently also no firststart signal START1 occurs in modified embodiments of the portabledevices 1 and 40 according to FIGS. 1 and 2, no second detection stage36 is provided but rather only the first detection stage 35 and thethird detection stage 37, which two detection stages 35 and 37 in thiscase simultaneously form or may form the activation means 33, whereinactivation of the communication station configuration 10 or the datacarrier configuration 11 may be performed by means of the controlinformation INFO1 and INFO3. In more general terms, this means thatcomponents of the detection means 32 may simultaneously form theactivation means 33.

In the two above-described variant embodiments of a portable device 1 or40, the detection means 32 and the activation means 33 are provided onthe same circuit board 12 as the internal communication stationconfiguration 10 and the internal data carrier configuration 11, but asseparate circuit units. This does not absolutely have to be the case,because the detection means 32 and also the activation means 33 may bedivided between the internal communication station configuration 10 andthe internal data carrier configuration 11, or because the detectionmeans 32 and the activation means 33 may be components of either onlythe internal communication station configuration 10 or of only theinternal data carrier configuration 11.

In the two above-described variant embodiments of a portable device 1 or40, mutually separate transmit/receive means 21 and 27 are provided forthe internal communication station configuration 10 and the internaldata carrier configuration 11. This does not absolutely have to be thecase, since two transmit/receive means 21 and 27 may alternatively beformed by a common transmit/receive circuit configuration.

It should additionally be mentioned that, instead of transmission coils17, 20, 22, and 28, which cooperate in the manner of transformers, i.e.inductively, dipoles may be used as antennas if the contactless datatransmission is performed in high frequency ranges.

In the two above-described variant embodiments of a portable device 1 or40, provision is made for external communication stations 14 to be ableto communicate in a contactless manner both with the internal datacarrier configuration 11 and with the internal communication stationconfiguration 10. This does not absolutely have to be the case, sinceexternal communication stations 14 may communicate with the internaldata carrier configuration 11 only.

In the two above-described variant embodiments of a portable device 1 or40, the first transmit/receive means 21 of the internal communicationstation configuration 10 is designed to transmit a controlling searchsignal SEARCH. This does not absolutely have to be the case, sinceprovision may also be made for the first transmit/receive means 21 totransmit simply a sinusoidal signal or a square-wave signal as so-calledsearch signal, which serves to transmit energy and which is used afterreception in an external data carrier 13 to supply energy to thisexternal data carrier 13, whereupon the external data carrier 13automatically sends a response signal RESPONSE to the internalcommunication station configuration 10 once a sufficiently high supplyvoltage has been built up.

A cell phone 1 and a credit card 40 were described above as portabledevices. However, the measures according to the invention may also beapplied highly advantageously to other portable devices, for example aso-called “Personal Digital Assistant” (PDA) or a laptop computer or aportable dictating device or an electrical dental care configuration orkitchen scales and many other devices.

1. A portable device, comprising a communication station configurationwhich is provided and designed for contactless communication with atleast one data carrier external to the portable device and incontactless communication connection therewith, and comprising a datacarrier configuration which is provided and designed for contactlesscommunication with at least one communication station external to theportable device and in contactless read connection therewith, andcomprising detection means which are provided and designed to detect atleast one external data carrier located in a communication zone suitablefor a contactless communication connection and to detect at least oneexternal communication station located in a communication zone suitablefor a contactless communication connection, and comprising activationmeans cooperating with the detection means, which activation meanscooperate with the communication station configuration and with the datacarrier configuration and by which means one of the two configurationscan be activated as a function of the detection result supplied in eachcase by the detection means.
 2. A portable device as claimed in claim 1,wherein the detection means are designed to detect at least one externaldata carrier and to detect at least one external communication stationby means of signals, which signals have been generated by at least oneexternal data carrier and by at least one external communication stationand transmitted in a contactless manner to the detection means.
 3. Aportable device as claimed in claim 1, wherein a display configurationis provided to display data and wherein at least the communicationstation configuration is connected to the display configuration suchthat data contained in the communication station configuration can bedisplayed by means of the display configuration.
 4. A portable device asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the portable device (1) takes the form of acell phone (1).
 5. A portable device as claimed in claim 1, wherein theportable device takes the form of a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). 6.A portable device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the portable device isdesigned as a card-form data carrier.